Residents in the New South Wales town of Bulga, which was previously earmarked for relocation due to the expansion of a nearby mine, have seized upon changes to the state’s planning laws as potentially crucial in their battle to prevent the project’s extension.
NSW planning minister Rob Stokes has released a proposed amendment to the state’s mining environmental planning policy. The change removes a provision that makes the economic importance of resources “the principal consideration” when determining whether to allow mining projects.
Stokes said the draft change would ensure decisions were made with environmental and social, as well as economic, factors in mind.
“The careful deliberation of environmental, economic and social issues is fundamental to good planning,” he said. “This proposed amendment reflects the importance of balance in assessing the likely impacts of mining developments.”
The change is likely to affect the decision of the independent Planning Assessment Commission, which is reviewing a plan by mining giant Rio Tinto to expand its Warkworth open-cut coal mine, near the small town of Bulga, 90km inland from Newcastle.
The planned expansion of the mine would bring it within 3km of Bulga, home to about 350 people. The commission said in March that “serious consideration” should be given to moving the entire town if the expansion went ahead, although the NSW government and Rio Tinto have dismissed this idea.
The NSW land court ruled in 2013 that the environmental and community harm caused by the mine’s extension outweighed its economic benefits. Shortly afterwards, the NSW government, under former premier Barry O’Farrell, stipulated that jobs and investment should be the primary factor when deciding whether to approve mining projects.
AnneMaree McLaughlin, who lives within 5km of the mine in Bulga, said there was “huge relief” in the community at Stokes’s decision. The planning minister, along with NSW premier Mike Baird, visited Bulga in April.
“I said to [Stokes], ‘I have great faith you’ll look at this and give it a more balanced view’ and thank goodness he’s come through for us,” she told Guardian Australia. “The planning department were so weighted towards the mining industry but there is a lot more scrutiny now.”
McLaughlin’s husband Robert said the couple had to sleep with ear plugs because of the noise of the mine and had to filter their tank water before drinking it due to the dust stirred up by mining equipment.
“We’re feeling really upbeat today – balance has been restored,” he said. “At the moment the noise is like a city humming away. If it got closer it would be unbearable.
“This has caused a lot of depression and anxiety in Bulga. You can’t sell a property here for love nor money. People have been left high and dry. But if the PAC decision goes in our favour, we can move on with our lives.”
Alan Leslie, another Bulga resident and spokesman for the Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association, said Stokes’s decision was a “good first step” but that the battle wasn’t over.
“This gives us heart that things are on the right track,” he said. “The noise and dust have been unbearable. The majority of Bulga people don’t want this to go ahead. It’s only because the mining company put pressure on government to change the law that we’re in this situation.
“We’re tired of it, we’re sick of it all. Fair play hasn’t come into it until now.”
The NSW Minerals Council said the government had failed to properly explain the benefits of the prioritisation of economic benefits and that the removal of the provision would hurt regional economies that rely on mining.
“This is a retrograde step that will hurt NSW,” said Stephen Galilee, chief executive of the NSW Minerals Council. “It will put at risk thousands of current and potential jobs, particularly in regional mining communities where unemployment is often well above the state average.
“Getting the balance right is important, but you can’t have viable communities and a clean environment without a strong economy.”
According to the mining lobby body, there are 1,300 workers at Rio Tinto’s Mount Thorley and Warkworth operations, and there is strong community support for the mines. Polling done by the NSW Minerals Council in June found that 67% of people surveyed in Singleton, a local hub for mining jobs, supported the continuation of Rio’s mining in the area.
